Episode 929: You Want it This Way
Date July 20, 2016 Summary Ben and Sam banter about Ben’s new job at The Ringer, a distressing Jose Altuve video, and Clayton Kershaw, then answer listener emails about dugout pranks, contracts and the Hall of Fame, tattoos of players, how to manage managers, and more. Topics * Dugout celebrations and pranks * Scaling up independent teams with MLB stars * Managing sub optimal strategies * Batting average on the first pitch * Bad contracts influencing Hall of Fame voting * Baseball tattoos Intro ABBA, "Ring Ring" Outro The Backstreet Boys, "I Want it That Way" Banter * Ben has accepted a job with The Ringer and will be hosting The Ringer MLB podcast. * Because of Ben's new job and responsibilities, Effectively Wild will not be a daily show anymore. * Sam is annoyed at how the Houston Astros twitter account publicized a video of Jose Altuve and other Houston Astros singing to I Want it That Way. * Sam continues to be concerned that Clayton Kershaw is about to suffer a major injury. Email Questions * Asa: "I make the following claim: the practice of giving a player the silent treatment when he returns to the dugout after his first career homerun has jumped the shark. Agree or disagree? I feel like this used to happen sometimes and it was funny. I feel like this now happens every time without fail and it's 100% unfunny. What's the perfect mix of non celebration troll jobs and actual celebrations that will produce the funniest moments? Asked another way, are jokes better when there's a lot of setup before the punch line or a little setup before the punchline?" * Maximilian: "Sam has mentioned that while we live in a world where every pitch thrown at any level of organized baseball has worth only in so far as it advances the current or future chances of an MLB franchise winning a World Series, this was not always the case. That independent leagues and even barnstorming tours were once considered an end in and of themselves. What might happen if two young transcendent stars, let's call them Hrout and Tarper, decided after their initial MLB service time was up to sign 10 year contracts with the Sugarland Skeeters and the Somerset Patriots. Could this have a Bird/Magic effect on the whole Atlantic League? Would fans and other stars follow?" * Amos: "It's pretty clear now that managers of "smart" teams make decisions that violate pretty basic sabermetric insights. The Dodgers don't shift, Escobar leads off for the Royals, most clubs follow closer orthodoxy, etc. In most cases there's an explanation. Good managers undoubtedly provide real value through chemistry and leader of men qualities even if we don't know how to quantify them yet. My question is, should front offices try to tell managers which sub optimal strategies to use in establishing their leadership? For example, lineup construction usually has a very small impact so it seems like a good area to allow managers free reign to keep players happy, build chemistry, etc. But, maybe the Dodgers would be better served by working to bring Kershaw on board with shifting, which as a leader himself he would influence the entire staff. Which areas should managers be given the most free reign, or the least, or would such guidance be self defeating because the power of these decisions to build on the field unity comes in part because they reject the analyst's input." * Tony: "Given the increased focus on contracts and value, do you think a very bad contract could negatively impact a player's chance at the Hall of Fame when voters will be the sort of folks that were raised on quantitative analysis and value." * Luis: "If you were the sort of person who gets tattoos and you wanted to get a tattoo of your favorite player, when would be the second best time to do it? The best time being never. Take Mookie Betts. I love Mookie Betts. It would be so cool in retrospect to have that much faith in a player so early, his future was so uncertain at that point, there was a nonzero chance that he'd never amount to much and then I'd be stuck with some obscure name on my body for the rest of my life. If I go with Adrian Beltre I'm pretty late to the party and I'm risking very little. So, if you're forced to get a tattoo of any player you like, how would you make your choice? A bold bet on a young player? A long dead legend? A safe pick of a future Hall of Famer? An underrated sentimental favorite? An obscure former bench guy or middle reliever?" Play Index * Mike Trout on the first pitch this year is hitting .619. Sam uses the Play Index to see where this ranks historically. * Since 1988, with a minimum of 30 plate appearances, Scott Van Slyke has the record by hitting .621 on the first pitch. * Carlton Fisk had a 1.621 SLG on the first pitch * Sam examines specific cases of players with the best split OPS+ in certain situations. * In 38 plate appearances where the ball was hit in the infield, Nook Logan had a split OPS+ of 807. Notes * On the cutback in episode frequency, Sam sarcastically says "It better be a little bit, Ben, because I love doing this every day". * Sam doesn't think the argument about bad contracts would influence Hall of Fame status for surefire candidates. He names Ken Griffey, Jr. as an example. * Sam would get Barry Bonds' slash line for his baseball tattoo. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 929: You Want it That Way * Astros' Clubhouse sings I Want It That Way Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes